


A Day in the Life

by iam93percentstardust



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Domestic Bliss, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, References to Sex, complete work, updates on Wednesdays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29176557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iam93percentstardust/pseuds/iam93percentstardust
Summary: Steve always rises before the dawn, a habit that he developed years ago, back when he’d still been working in the special forces. While he’d been able to break most of his army habits when he came back home, this one had stuck with him. Usually, he wakes up early and is finished with his run by the time Tony is just beginning to stir but today, however, it takes him a little longer to awaken. By the time he’s fully awake, the sun is just starting to appear over the horizon and Tony is already awake.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 30
Kudos: 202





	1. Before the Sun Rises

Steve always rises before the dawn, a habit that he developed years ago, back when he’d still been working in the special forces. While he’d been able to break most of his army habits when he came back home, this one had stuck with him. Usually, he wakes up early and is finished with his run by the time Tony is just beginning to stir but today, however, it takes him a little longer to awaken. By the time he’s fully awake, the sun is just starting to appear over the horizon and Tony is already awake.

He’s looking at Steve with that soft expression in his eyes that Steve adores because it means that Tony loves him. There’s a little smile playing around the corner of his lips and the moment he sees Steve is awake, he leans over and gives him the softest of kisses.

“What a way to wake up,” Steve murmurs as Tony pulls away. He props himself up on his elbow, leaning over Tony to give him another kiss. “Morning, sweetheart.”

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Tony replies cheekily. “Thought you were going to sleep the whole day away.”

“As if you’d be upset if I did.”

“Hey, I’m not denying it. I’ve been saying for ages that we should take a day off, spend the entire day in bed. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

“You mean _you_ should take a day off,” Steve corrects. He’s been mostly unemployed ever since he left the army. All he does these days is take up a couple substitute teaching jobs because he enjoys the work but Tony more than makes enough for the both of them and Steve doesn’t mind not working so it works out for the both of them.

Tony gives him a careful look and then says slowly, “What if I did?”

Steve pauses. “You mean it?”

Tony shrugs. It looks casual but Steve can see the tension in his shoulders and he aches at the realization that Tony still gets nervous to make spontaneous plans with him. It’s not surprising. Most of the people Tony dated before him were absolutely terrible, exactly the kind of people who would get upset with Tony because him making spontaneous plans means they can’t go see their _other_ partner. It’s taken him a long time to convince Tony that he isn’t like that, that he’s in it for the long run.

“You don’t have work?” he asks gently, trying to convince Tony that this is okay, he’s not mad about this.

“I cleared my schedule with Pep. I’m all yours for the day.” Tony smiles as he says it but there’s still a little nervousness lurking in his eyes and Steve pauses before kissing him.

“One moment,” he says, vaulting out of bed and racing for the bathroom. He brushes his teeth quickly, knowing that Tony would have already done so the moment he got up (it’s a thing with him, similar to how he hates being handed things except by people he trusts), and then he rushes back into their bedroom.

He places a knee on the bed, leans over Tony, and kisses him deeply, flirting his tongue along the line of Tony’s lips until he opens for him. Tony surges up, arms wrapping around him to tug him onto the bed. Steve breaks apart from him just long enough to make sure he doesn’t completely crush him when he goes down, ending up on his hands and knees above him.

“A whole day just with you,” he murmurs before kissing Tony again. “Sounds like heaven.”

He knows he’s said the right thing by the way Tony giggles and tucks his face into Steve’s neck. “Don’t hide,” he croons, kissing the side of his head. “How can I kiss you if you’re hiding?”

“Sounds like a personal problem to me,” Tony’s muffled voice says but then he’s turning back to him again, opening up for more kisses like a flower for the sun. He’s beautiful like this, the dawn sunlight turning him golden and hazy in the early morning and Steve absolutely adores him.

“An entire day to ourselves,” he says again. “Whatever am I going to do with you?”

Tony smiles wickedly at him and fishes the lube out from under the pillows. “I’ve got a few ideas.”


	2. Hand in Hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goose is a dog in this universe for plot purposes

By the time they’re both sated and content, the sun has fully risen over the neighborhood. Steve lays on his side, propped up on his elbow as he watches Tony breathe in and out slowly. He’s beautiful like this and Steve counts himself so lucky that Tony wants to be with _him_ out of all the people in the world he could have.

“What’re you thinking about?” Tony asks him, turning onto his side so he can face him.

“You,” Steve says honestly and is rewarded when Tony blushes. Not for the first time, he wishes he could hunt down everyone who ever hurt his sweet genius and make them see how wrong they were, how much of a mistake they made in letting Tony go.

“You didn’t go on your run,” Tony says, changing the subject. Steve lets him. He knows how much self-loathing Tony’s got tucked away in his small frame and how much he gets embarrassed by compliments, even indirect ones like what Steve had said.

“Nope,” he agrees. “If you’re free, I’d rather spend the day with you.”

Tony goes bright red again and promptly rolls onto his stomach, burying his face in the pillows. Steve laughs and slings an arm over his back, snuggling in close to press kisses to his cheek.

“Sweetheart, don’t hide from me!” he exclaims.

In a muffled voice, Tony replies, “No.” He says something else too but Steve can’t catch it through the pillows.

“What was that?”

Tony rolls his head so that Steve can see one beautiful brown eye. “I _asked_ if you wanted to go for a walk.”

“Really?”

“Well, it’s not like I can go running with you, now can I?”

Steve glances down at his chest, silly of him since he can’t see the damage done to Tony’s heart. He shivers, thinking of how close he’d come to losing Tony before he’d ever even met him. Genetic heart detects are nothing to sneeze at and the fact that no one had even known Tony had one until he’d collapsed in the middle of a board meeting last year is even worse.

“A walk,” he repeats.

“Yep, just a leisurely stroll.”

Steve gives him a look. “You just want to say hi to the cute Pomeranian puppy down the street.”

“I _so_ want to say hi to the cute Pomeranian puppy down the street,” Tony agrees in a rush.

“Alright,” Steve says, rolling over. He gets up and heads for the bathroom. “We should probably take a shower first if we don’t want to go out there smelling like sex.”

“Maybe _you_ don’t want to,” Tony grumbles but he gets out of bed and joins Steve in the shower. Both of them are well-practiced in showering without getting distracted by the miles of skin on display and so it only takes them a few short minutes to shower and get dressed again in sweats and a t-shirt: an old army shirt for Steve and one of those band shirts for Tony.

They walk out of the brownstone, hand in hand. Tony pauses on the front step as Steve locks the front door and then they set off down the street, still holding hands. When they’d first moved to this neighborhood, out of the monstrosity Howard Stark had called Stark Tower, they’d made sure to pick an LGBT-friendly area of town and so as they walk down the street, they’re greeted with cheerful smiles and waves.

Tony gets excited about halfway down the street, tugging on Steve’s sleeve as he spots the Pomeranian puppy that their neighbors, Jess and Carol, had adopted a few weeks earlier. Steve lets him go, laughing as Tony practically sprints to the puppy and falls to his knees to faceplant in the puppy’s fur. To her credit, the puppy just flops over, tongue lolling out as she accepts all the attention she’s due.

Huh, Steve thinks as he watches them, following Tony at a more sedate pace. He’d never thought about getting a dog before but maybe… He won’t deny that watching Tony with the puppy is a wonderful sight, one that he’d love to see over and over again.

“Hey Army,” Carol says amiably as he stops beside her.

“Hey Air Force,” he replies. He looks down at Tony again and makes a decision. “Where did you say you got Goose from again?”

She grins.


	3. The Sound of Footsteps

When they bought the brownstone, they’d made sure to get one with three bedrooms: one for them, one for their guests, and one to double as both an office for Tony and an art studio for Steve. The room mostly functions as the art studio, as Tony typically does his work at Stark Tower, but there’s still a desk in one corner where Tony can watch Steve painting on the other side of the room.

Steve is in there now, working on a portrait of how Tony had looked in the early morning light. Tony himself is back in their bedroom, napping after their walk. Steve had been in there with him for a little while but he’d been unable to fall asleep and he’d eventually gotten up and gone to the studio instead.

He pauses as he puts his brush down, thinking about what color would best represent the way the light fell across Tony’s skin. Gold, obviously, but what shade?

There’s the sound of bare feet on the hardwood floors and he looks up, eagerly waiting for Tony to appear. There is still enough sunlight in the studio that he thinks he might be able to do some color matching if he works fast.

Tony appears in the door, sleepily rubbing his eyes with one hand and clutching a cup of coffee in the other. He’s wearing one of Steve’s oversized sweaters and only that, his legs and feet bare. He leans against the doorway and smiles fondly at Steve, saying, “I should have known you’d be in here.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Steve tells him sheepishly. He gets up and crosses the room, lightly dropping a kiss on Tony’s upturned lips. “Sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up.”

“It’s fine,” Tony says. “What are you working on?”

“Come and see.” He heads back across the room, Tony plodding along behind him. Steve sits back down on the easel, drawing Tony onto his lap. “What do you think?”

Tony takes a sip of his coffee, studying the painting. Steve tucks his face into the crook of Tony’s neck, breathing in deeply. Tony smells a little like metal—he always does, for some reason—a little like coffee, and a little bit like that body wash he likes so much. Steve’s tongue flickers out, tasting him.

“Steve,” Tony admonishes. “Can’t look at anything if you’re distracting me.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles, not sorry at all.

Tony gives him a look that says he clearly sees through Steve’s antics. Steve just buries himself back in Tony’s neck, grinning when his husband huffs and shakes his head.

“I like it,” Tony says eventually. “That’s art, that is. It’s going up on the wall as soon as you’re done.”

Just about every square inch of their home is covered in Steve’s paintings. “Where are you gonna find the space for it?”

“Maybe I’ll put it in our bedroom, right above the bed.”

“Hmm, if it’s going there, don’t you think I should be in the painting too?”

Tony gives him a wicked grin. “Maybe you should.”

He gives Tony a look and then situates him again so that he’s sitting comfortably on Steve’s lap as he picks up his paintbrush. “What shade of gold do you think I should do for the sunlight?”

Tony studies the palette for a moment before pointing to one. “That one.”

Steve kisses his cheek. “I like that one too.”

“That’s because I have excellent taste.”

“That’s right, sweetheart. You keep telling yourself that.”


	4. Gold Across the Sky

They spend the entire day together, reading or painting or watching a movie or anything else that might strike their fancy. And…it’s nice, it really is. Steve would never, in a million years, complain about the time that Tony puts into his company, especially because he knows that SI has a reputation for being one of the best employers on the market, but getting to spend a quiet day at home with his husband like this? No meetings, no phone calls, no interruptions whatsoever? Yeah, it’s nice.

Steve is putting the last of the dishes away when Tony comes back into the kitchen. Tony drapes himself along the line of Steve’s back like an oversized cat and hooks his chin over Steve’s shoulder.

“Spectacular sunset outside, babe,” Tony tells him.

“Yeah?” Steve asks, continuing to put away dishes.

“Yeah, real gorgeous.”

“Not as gorgeous as you, I’ll bet.”

Tony swats at his arm, cheeks glowing a brilliant red. “Hush, you,” he says fondly. “So how about it?”

“How about what?” Steve feigns ignorance just to see the annoyed look on Tony’s face.

“You, me, the front steps, maybe a couple cups of coffee,” Tony explains slowly, narrowing his eyes as Steve tries to choke back his amusement.

“And what would we do out there on the front steps?”

Tony glares at him. “Watch the sunset, of course.”

“I dunno, sweetheart, I didn’t know we were a watching the sunset kind of couple and—”

Tony swats his arm again and flounces off, calling over his shoulder, “Just get out there, would you?”

Steve laughs as he watches him go. He turns to the coffee maker, still shaking his head fondly. No, he and Tony have never been much of a watching the sunset together kind of couple but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be. And, honestly, it sounds just as nice as everything else they’ve done together today. It sounds like the perfect finish to an absolutely perfect day.

He finishes putting the coffee together, a little bit of sugar in his and more cream than coffee in Tony’s, and heads out to join Tony on the front step. He passes one of the mugs over to Tony, who wraps one hand around it and with the other, passes Steve his sketchbook. Steve holds it for a moment and then puts it back down.

“Thanks,” he says, “but I’d rather spend this moment with you.”

Tony beams at him and leans over, resting his head against Steve’s shoulder. Steve kisses the top of his head and then turns so his cheek is resting on Tony’s hair. He wraps an arm around Tony’s shoulders, tugging him in closer.

In the street, a couple of the kids from a few houses down are playing what looks like Calvinball since there are no rules that Steve can pick up on. Carol and Jess are walking their dog on the other side of the street and they wave when they spot them. Tony raises his mug in acknowledgement.

It really is an amazing sunset, Steve agrees silently. The sky is streaked with pink and gold and fiery red, seemingly untouched by the city’s pollution. It’s nice, Steve think again. This is nice and he half-wishes that it’s something they could do more often, but at the same time, he’s not sure it would be as special if they did this all the time. So instead, he sits back on his hands, breathes in Tony’s scent, and watches the sun set.


	5. Good Night

By the time they’re finally ready to go back inside, night has long since fallen and Tony is half-asleep. Steve smiles fondly down at where Tony is resting against his shoulder, nestled up against his side.

“Sweetheart,” Steve murmurs, gently nudging Tony’s shoulder. “Sweetheart, you gotta get up.”

“No, I don’t,” Tony grumbles.

Steve laughs softly and stands, picking Tony up as he goes. Tony crosses his legs behind Steve’s back, his hands behind his neck, and lets his eyes drift shut again. “You’re not even going to help?” Steve teases as he goes back inside, kicking the door shut behind him and pausing to lock the door before heading on upstairs. He’d brought the mugs in an hour or so ago, after bees started swarming the mug for the sugar inside, so he doesn’t have to worry about that.

“It’s so early,” Tony mutters as Steve climbs the stairs. “When did we become the boring couple who goes to bed early? At the very least, we could be going to bed for…other activities.” He attempts an eyebrow waggle but on his tired face, it comes off as more constipated than sexy.

Steve hums. “Are you even awake enough for anything more?” he asks, biting back a chuckle. Tony wouldn’t like it if he laughed at his eyebrow waggle. He can hear him now, saying that he’s so very offended and how dare you insinuate I am anything less than gorgeous at all hours of the day, Steve?

“…No.”

“Thought so.”

He removes his hand from under Tony’s butt to open their bedroom door and carries Tony across the room to their bathroom, where he sets his husband on the sink counter. Tony blinks owlishly at him and then at the bathroom.

“What’re we in here for? Thought we were going to bed.”

“We are,” Steve says, busy wetting both of their toothbrushes. “As soon as you brush your teeth. Tired or not, that’s important.”

“Boo,” Tony says, but he takes his toothbrush when Steve passes it to him, so he counts it as a win.

They go through their bathroom routine quickly and before long, Steve is carrying Tony back into their bedroom. He undresses as fast as he can, certain that he’ll need to help Tony with his own clothes, judging by how tired his husband is, but when he turns back, Tony has already managed to get undressed—though he dumped his clothes on the floor, just like he always does, despite knowing how much Steve hates it—and crawled beneath the sheets.

Steve scowls down at the clothes and then back up at Tony. “Clothes, sweetheart,” he says pointedly.

“Leave ‘em for tomorrow,” Tony says—slurs really.

If it was any other night, he would have forced Tony to take care of the clothes himself but it’s late and they’re both dead tired so he leaves them be and just drops his own clothes next to Tony’s.

“Attaboy,” Tony mumbles.

Steve shakes his head and goes around the room, turning off the lamps and making sure the curtains are closed. Finally, once he’s taken care of everything, he joins Tony, who reaches out across their bed to hold onto Steve’s hand.

“Good day?” Tony asks, rolling his head so he can peer at Steve from one eye, the rest of his face buried in the pillow still.

Steve leans over and kisses his cheek. “The best day.”


End file.
